• Pir Zia Inayat-Khan greets Leslie Gabriel Mezei, Holocaust survivor and Minister of the Universal Worship Service. Vazir Karsan
    01 May 2015 | Ismaili Centre Toronto

    Pir Zia Inayat-Khan speaks on Muslim and Hindu civilisations at the Ismaili Centre Toronto

    Pir Zia Inayat-Khan greets Leslie Gabriel Mezei, Holocaust survivor and Minister of the Universal Worship Service. Vazir Karsan
6:00 PM
3 May 2015
5:45 PM
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The Ismaili Centre Toronto
Canada

Toronto, 2 May 2015 — Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, a prominent scholar of Sufism and grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan, one of the earliest Sufi figures in the West, spoke at the Ismaili Centre about the meeting of Muslim and Hindu civilisations in Mughal India. His talk explored the shared aesthetic and spiritual values that arose through this interaction, the progress of Sufi thought, and the Mughal period’s legacy of cultural sharing and tolerance.

The talk was prefaced by remarks from Toronto Area Interfaith Council president Zul Kassamali: “When the Mughal leader Bahbur, his descendants and their people pushed into India, the encounter was not an easy one… We are here in part to remind ourselves that the rewards of building each other up, of celebrating each other’s differences, are far greater than anything gained by conflict.”
 
The event included a classical Indian raga performance by bassist and Indo-Jazz composer Justin Gray, featuring the unique “bass veena,” an instrument invented by Gray that resembles the veena sound in modern electrical bass form. His performance was followed by an exploration of the Aga Khan Museum’s Visions of Mughal India exhibition, and concluded with an interactive question and answer session.
 
In attendance were Leslie Gabriel Mezei, an interfaith leader and member of the Sufi Order International, as well as Narendra K. Wagle, Professor Emeritus of South Asian History at the University of Toronto.